Karen D’Avanzo

Karen D’Avanzo, who had a doctorate in psychology from Long Island University, worked for Yale University in New Haven and the New School in New York City while also running a private practice and conducting clinical research. Her specialty was children and adolescents. She died on Oct. 23 of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at Southampton Hospital. She was 57.

Ms. D’Avanzo lived in Hampton Bays with her mother, Marie D’Avanzo Hammer, and her stepfather, George Hammer. Her father, William D’Avanzo, died before her. Mr. Hammer owned and operated the Shepherd’s Neck Inn in Montauk until he sold the business seven years ago.

Ms. D’Avanzo was a frequent visitor to Montauk and the inn, where her parents lived. When she married Mark Burrell in 1992, the couple held their reception there. They had a son, Eli Burrell, who now lives with his father in Hamden, Conn. The marriage ended in divorce.

Born on Sept. 10, 1957, in Manhattan, she grew up in Brentwood and Islip, attending the Academy of St. Joseph in Brentwood and Adelphi University.

Prior to contracting her illness five years ago, Ms. D’Avanzo was very active and completed several New York City Marathons. She also enjoyed skydiving. Mr. Hammer said that in the early days of her illness she tried to remain active, running and then walking, but eventually had to stop.

She had a humanitarian bent, and spent a year in Malawi working with a children’s refugee organization, and was also a devoted mother, her family said.

Two sisters, Donna D’Avanzo of Chandler, Ariz., and Joanne Maynard of Hampton Bays, also survive her.

Ms. D’Avanzo was cremated. The family will hold a remembrance gathering in Hampton Bays on Nov. 22.